Inventory of Global Emissions by Launchers for 2024

The Inventory of Global Emissions by Launchers for 2024 (IGEL 2024) is a global, launch-resolved dataset of rocket launch emissions for the calendar year 2024. It covers 223 launches and 26 launch vehicles, representing approximately 95.6% of the propellant consumed by orbital launches during the year; four suborbital Starship test flights are also included because of their substantial propellant consumption. IGEL 2024 combines detailed launch-vehicle models with individually reconstructed launch trajectories and engine-specific exhaust compositions. Three-dimensional propellant-use profiles are converted into primary exhaust distributions and subsequently into final emission distributions using altitude-dependent post-combustion parameterizations. The resulting inventory contains 110.5 kt of primary exhaust and 130.9 kt of final emissions. Major species include carbon dioxide (CO₂), water vapour (H₂O), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen species, aluminium oxide (Al₂O₃), black carbon, and chlorine-containing compounds. The dataset contains: two precompiled global NetCDF inventories: one excluding emissions above 80 km and one assigning them to the uppermost model layer, respectively; launch-specific three-dimensional propellant-use, primary-exhaust, and final-emission profiles for all 223 modelled launches; primary exhaust indices for 36 rocket-engine types; a launch list containing dates, locations, launch vehicles, insertion-orbit parameters, recovery information, and data-quality indicators; and launch-vehicle mass properties and stage-engine assignments. The launch-specific profile files are named according to the corresponding launch_tag, which follows the launch’s COSPAR International Designator. It consists of the four-digit launch year followed by the three-digit sequential number assigned to that launch within the year (e.g. 2024-001). Unlike the full COSPAR designations assigned to individual space objects, the launch_tag does not include an object-specific letter suffix because it identifies the launch event as a whole. The tag is included in the launch list and links each propellant-use and emission-profile file to its associated launch metadata. Because not all launches conducted in 2024 were modelled, the launch_tag values represented in the dataset do not form a strictly consecutive sequence. The NetCDF inventories follow the CF-1.8 conventions and provide species-resolved molecular emission fluxes in molecules m⁻³ s⁻¹. They cover the globe at 1° latitude × 1° longitude horizontal resolution, with 1 km vertical sampling from 0 to 80 km and monthly temporal resolution from January through December 2024. Emission fields are represented on a four-dimensional time–level–latitude–longitude grid. The dataset was subjected to structural, metadata, numerical, mass-conservation, and CF-compliance checks. Remaining uncertainties arise principally from incomplete public information about launch vehicles and missions, limited experimental rocket-exhaust measurements, reconstructed trajectories, and the simplified representation of post-combustion plume chemistry. IGEL 2024 is intended for atmospheric chemistry and climate modelling, assessments of ozone and radiative effects, comparisons between launch systems and emission species, and investigations of the environmental consequences of space-launch activity. An accompanying inventory generator [https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21700961] enables users to construct customized inventories with different spatial and temporal resolutions, domains, treatments of emissions above the model boundary, output units, and selections of launches or emission species. Detailed underlying trajectory, launcher, and engine models are not included because they contain sensitive vehicle-performance information. The derived propellant-use and emission products required to reproduce the published inventory are provided.